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Wednesday, June 22, 2016

The Event: A Taste of Spain – Rueda wines

The Date and Time: Sunday, May 29, 2016 11AM to 5PM

The Event: A Taste of Spain – Rueda wines

The Venue: Patria Restaurant

The Target Audience: wine trade, and then later, Spanish wine lovers.

The Availability/Catalogue: some of the wines are available by consignment, the occasional one turns up at Vintages. There are four on the General LCBO list, but they were not in this show.

The Quote/Background: Felipe Gonzalez-Gordon, Director of DO Rueda, spoke to the wines, most of which were not represented in Ontario. Ten wines were at the seminar, along with six wine writers. Rueda whites are the number one top quality selling white wines in Spain. They became a DO in 1980, and red/rose Rueda followed in 2008. Verdejo, at 10.5 Hectares, has 80% of the plantings, followed by sauvignon blanc (15%) and other varieties (mostly red). The area, like all of Spain, is tightly controlled in terms of expansion by the EU.

The Wines: I did not try every wine. Retail prices were estimates when available, but most verdejos were in the mid-teens or less, most sauvignon blancs were slightly higher. After 12:30 it became a consumer event, and it was tough to get a wine sample as every booth had lineups (not complainin', just explainin'). Some wines I just did not get to.

As far as I can tell, 36 wines were listed but I know for sure than at least one did not arrive.

The Food: Patria went all out for this one with appropriate food. Since there were only two kinds of white wine everywhere, the food went well with whatever one had on a plate. To begin with, there were Patria's well-known spiced nuts, olives, charcuterie/salumi, Spanish cheeses, octopus carpaccio on toasts, breads, meats. Served platters included flatbreads with anchovies and/or cooked red peppers, some deep fried cheeses, more meats. In a very crowded area there was shrimp paella, and some ribs with rice and truffle oil.

The Downside: we started late as we waited for stragglers for the seminar.

The Upside: for years we have had no wine trade events on Sundays. Suddenly, there were two such events this May. A good time, people seem to be available. Wine is always 24/7.